Qualcomm presents the Snapdragon X Plus processor for laptops that will run Windows on ARM

Qualcomm has had laptop CPUs in its portfolio for some time. They were forgotten “Snapdragon X”, and soon it will arrive on board several devices. Well, after an Elite model, Qualcomm has just introduced the Snapdragon X Plus chipset, a 10-core model that should bring AI capabilities and “exceptional performance”. It’s ranked slightly lower than the Elite variant, but should be enough for “midrange” models. I have details below.

The Snapdragon X Plus brings 10 Oryon cores clocked up to 3.4GHz and supports up to 64GB of RAM. There is also a 45 TOPS NPU used for AI functions. Qualcomm says it would be the fastest and most advanced NPU ever put on a laptop.

Qualcomm demonstrated the performance of such a device by running Visual Studio code (Via Codegen). In practice, the device can generate code using only this NPU, without the need for cloud-based solutions. It can also generate music in Audacity using Ruffison for prompts or live subtitles when using OBS Studio. There would even be automatic translation in 100 languages ​​around the globe using the Whisper option.

The Oryon cores integrated here are efficient and would bring 37% higher performance compared to similar chipsets. The CPU supports type RAM LPDDR5x, brings a 42MB cache and is manufactured on a 4nm lithography process. It supports the connection of up to 3 external displays with 4K resolution (60Hz) and comes with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 support.

I remind you that Windows on ARM together with Qualcomm CPUs are Microsoft’s answer to Apple devices that use M chipsets based on ARM architecture. In theory these Snapdragon X chipsets will be more energy efficient than the Intel variants while still maintaining decent performance.

In the next period we should see laptops with Snapdragon CPUs from companies like Microsoft, Samsung, but also ASUS, Lenovo, Xiaomi and other manufacturers on the market.